LONDON: Prime
Minister Theresa May stepped down as leader of Britain's governing Conservative
Party on Friday, formally triggering the race for a successor who will try
where she failed to deliver Brexit. May, who quietly tendered her resignation
in a private letter to the party, will remain prime minister until a new leader
is chosen, likely in late July, but leaves Britain's tortuous departure from
the European Union stalled.

Brexit is still
scheduled for October 31 but while 11 contenders thrash it out over the
leadership, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed with
Brussels having been repeatedly rejected by parliament. "Following
notification from the Prime Minister Theresa May MP that she has resigned as
leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, (we) are inviting nominations
from those Conservative members of parliament who wish to stand for election as
the next party leader," the committee in charge of the contest said.

"(She) will
remain as acting leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party until her
successor has been announced." May took office after the shock 2016
referendum vote to leave the EU and has spent the past three years working on a
departure plan, delaying Brexit twice to try to get the deal through. But she
finally acknowledged defeat in a tearful resignation speech last month, the
culmination of months of political turmoil that had slowly sapped her
authority.

Eleven
Conservative MPs have declared their intention to stand to replace her,
including former foreign minister Boris Johnson, but some are expected to drop
out before the tomorrow 5:00pm (1600 GMT) deadline for nominations. The winner
will have only a few months to decide whether to try to salvage May's plan,
delay Brexit again - or sever ties with Britain's closest trading partner with
no agreement at all.

Brexit Party
pressure

The government is
under pressure from eurosceptic figurehead Nigel Farage, who has called for a
"no deal" option and whose newly-formed Brexit Party comfortably
topped the European Parliament elections last month. His single-issue party
suffered a setback after narrowly missing out on winning its first
parliamentary seat, losing to Labor in a by-election in the eastern city of
Peterborough on Thursday.

But despite
winning, Labor's vote share fell by 17 percent while the Conservatives' vote
plummeted by 25 percent, highlighting the task facing May's successor. Polling
guru John Curtice told the BBC that the result showed Britain was now in a
"different political world".

Leadership
contest frontrunner Johnson warned that the centre-right Conservatives
"must deliver Brexit by October 31 or we risk Brexit Party votes
delivering Corbyn to No 10", referring to leftist Labor leader Jeremy
Corbyn getting into Downing Street. Meanwhile leadership rival Jeremy Hunt, the
foreign minister, warned that there was "no future for our party"
until Britain leaves the EU. May formally relinquished her leadership in the private
letter to her party on Friday.

She spent the day
in her constituency west of London. No official event took place and there was
no statement from her 10 Downing Street office. She put on a brave face this
week when hosting US President Donald Trump for a state visit, before joining
him and other world leaders to mark 75 years since the D-Day landings.
"She remains prime minister for a good few weeks yet," May's
spokesman insisted, noting that any successor must meet Queen Elizabeth II and
assure the head of state that they have the support of enough lawmakers to take
over.

Johnson court
victory

Johnson, a
leading campaigner in the 2016 referendum who quit the government last year
over May's plan, is among several would-be candidates who say they are willing
to leave the EU without a deal if necessary. Environment Secretary Michael
Gove, another frontrunner, is open to another Brexit delay, while Hunt has said
leaving with no deal is "political suicide". Johnson cleared one
hurdle on Friday after the High Court quashed a legal action brought by a
citizen who accuses him of misconduct in public office for making misleading
statements during the 2016 campaign about how much money Britain sends to the
EU.

Nominations for
the Conservative leadership contest open and close on Monday, and the 313
Conservative MPs - including May - will hold the first of a series of secret
ballots on Thursday. With the worst performers eliminated each time, the goal
is to have two candidates left by June 20. They will then be put to a ballot of
an estimated 100,000 party members. The contest should be completed in the week
commencing July 22.-AFP